The fact that a gentleman from Texas wants to revive the Pan American Airways brand and attach it to an aviation-related startup venture is, at this point, a yawn-worthy bit of news; This will be the fifth attempt to revive Pan Am since the original airline collapsed in 1991.
Nor is it particularly noteworthy that the new Pan Am intends to begin service on November 12, 2010 by hauling air cargo to Latin America, with plans to eventually fly passengers around Latin America and Africa sometime in the future.
Frankly, it's even not clear this Pan Am will ever get off the ground -- literally. The caution flag is that in its press release, the new Pan American made no mention of what type of aircraft it plans to fly. Since that's typically Agenda Item Number One for any new airline venture -- "airline" implying the need for, you know, airplanes and stuff -- New Pan American's silence on the matter suggests it may not yet have secured access to any aircraft other than the computer-generated jet shown on its website (and in the image above). Alas, pixels can't haul freight.
No, for us, the interesting news here is the new Pan Am's logo, which turns its back on the classic, 1950's globe that is now synonymous with Jet Set style:
Pan Am's classic 1950s logo (left) and the new, old(ish) Pan Am's logo (right)
Instead, the new airline has instead chosen to use a logo that looks like a version Pan American's 1940s logo after it was run through a few cheap Photoshop filters.
The new logo is an an odd choice, considering that the main reason to acquire Pan Am's brand assets is to capitalize on the nostalgia and goodwill the logo still inspires -- in its more familiar, blue-ball form.
In fairness, however, it must be said that the old logo didn't work out so well for any other other would-be Pan Ams that tried to revive the brand, such as this failed venture from 2007:
Could it be that the old logo is cursed? Haunted by an unholy hex that brings damnation upon any entrepreneur who seeks to resurrect it? Tainted due to its recent association with rail-thin hipsters and fashionista poseurs?
If so, then perhaps that's a fine reason to start afresh. To which we can only say: Good luck with that.
In the meantime, we shall follow the new new new new new Pan American on the Twitter.
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